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The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Vol. 1 [Vinyl]
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Performer Notes
Personnel: Sun Ra (piano, bass marimba); Marshall Allen (alto, piccolo, cymbals, bells); John Gilmore (tenor); Pat Patrick (baritone, percussion); Danny Davis (flute); Robert Cummings (bass clarinet, wood block); Chris Capers (trumpet); Teddy Nance (trombone); Bernard Pettaway (bass trombone); Ronnie Boykins (bass instrument); Jimhmi Johnson (percussion).
HELIOCENTRIC WORLDS VOL. 1 charts a period in the Sun Ra Arkestra's development (the mid-1960s) when Sun Ra was experimenting with orchestral improvisation, conducting sections of his ensemble both into and away from an expressionistic whole. Here Ra's music is completely stripped of its swing and bop roots, and even of the solid rhythmic principles that defined it in the early '60s. Working instead with atonality, silence, delicate ambient passages, and bold swaths of noise, Ra builds an increasingly abstract and wholly unprecedented sound here.
There are seven compositions on HELIOCENTRIC WORLDS VOL. 1, and each is characterized by Sun Ra's feel for contrasts. Low-end instruments (tympani, bass, baritone sax and other low-end horns, and bass marimba) bounce off high-end instruments (trumpets and saxophone) in a sometimes-delicate, sometimes-violent teeter-totter. Pieces like the "The Cosmos," though full of jittery, frantic passages, are restrained by a soft dynamic (a feeling heightened by the presence of electronic celeste--played by Ra). While Sun Ra's later experiments (which included copious chanting and theatrical trappings) sometimes threatened to overshadow the songs themselves, the music on HELIOCENTRIC WORLDS is challenging, beautiful, and totally engaging.
Professional Reviews
Down Beat (5/93, p.37) - 4.5 Stars - Very Good Plus - "...made Ra's cult reputation in 1965; and though it's no longer shocking, it still has the power to unsettle..."
Vibe (12/99, p.158) - Included in Vibe's 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century
